Etek 4 Settings

SO I recently just bought and Etek 4 ( my first non tippmann gun). So far I love it, however I have a few questions about it. I know how to access and change the settings however I have no idea how Dwell, Debounce, and Ball Detection time can effect my game and breakage. So far I've broken a few paintballs ( I ordered the cure 4 bolt the other day but due to the hurricane it's delayed) and was wondering what all of these mean so I can learn to change them for each game and the weather. I plan on playing in the summer and winter so I would like to know how to adjust this so I can prevent ball breakage as much as possible. Thanks!

In all honesty...read the manual. It explains what all those do...without us having to type it all out. I would leave the marker at stock settings until you have at least 10 cases of paint through it...it needs to break in. I think you jumped the gun buying the cure 4...depending on the weather where you are at and te type of paint you were using more than likely caused the breaks.

I was switching between Marbalizer and Evil. The manual vaguely explains what these settings do. I have no familiarity with these settings so I figured I'd just ask for some clarity about what each setting contributes.

Personally I think it's the paint...I a not a fan of marbalizer...and evil is extremely brittle and where you are at...and the temps will have to do with the breaks. The cure 4 is alright...don't know if its worth the ching tho.

I think it was a combo of the paint and the gun needing breaking in. I bought two cases of Draxxus midnight as some practice paint to break the gun in and didn't have a break at all which is good. I also had 1 break with evil the other day then no problems. I'm still not sure what I'm using on Nov 17th at the outdoor scenario I'm going to. Probably some polar ice unless you have different advice for cold weather paint.

Also I'm still not sure how to if I should mess with the other settings at all, most people not to bother, but some people said it may help in winter.

you can raise the dwell a little bit so you can turn your hpr down. i would just stick to winter paint...it's starting to get chilly! break the marker in...+/- 10 cases...it will smooth out as well as gain some efficiency. over bore the paint/barrel in cold weather too.

you can raise the dwell a little bit so you can turn your hpr down. i would just stick to winter paint...it's starting to get chilly! break the marker in...+/- 10 cases...it will smooth out as well as gain some efficiency. over bore the paint/barrel in cold weather too.

It will be a little hard on paint till its broken in. Mine was destroying paint in the breach at first, 4-5 cases in it smoothed out and has only gotten better.

As for terminology...

Dwell: how long the valve stays open. The longer it stays open the more air comes out. Higher dwell will allow you to run at lower operating pressures (controlled by the hpr), and lower dwell will require a higher operating pressure.

Debounce: electronically filters your trigger pulls. Micro switches can have false reads, giving you more than one shot per trigger pull. Set it at 3 or 4. If you find yourselft shooting more than you pull the trigger (in semi) then bump it up again. This isn't a big issue unless you play tourney where it can cost you points.

Ball detection time: There are lazer eyes in the breach that detect when a ball has been chambered and is ready to fire. The ball detection time is how long a ball must be detected before the marker will fire. Balls will often bounce in the breach as they land, going back up the feedneck partially before coming back down and resting. If this setting is too low the ball may still be partially in the feedneck or not at a fully rested state. That=broken paint.

Thanks for the help guys. I'm gonna leave the settings for now but thank you to thevicious1 for explaining what each one does. I've put about 2 cases through so far and I am starting to notice a difference. It's been getting much better.

SO I recently just bought and Etek 4 ( my first non tippmann gun). So far I love it, however I have a few questions about it. I know how to access and change the settings however I have no idea how Dwell, Debounce, and Ball Detection time can effect my game and breakage. So far I've broken a few paintballs ( I ordered the cure 4 bolt the other day but due to the hurricane it's delayed) and was wondering what all of these mean so I can learn to change them for each game and the weather. I plan on playing in the summer and winter so I would like to know how to adjust this so I can prevent ball breakage as much as possible. Thanks!

I bought one and have had no issues with it. I have the cure 4 bolt, and I turned my dwell to 9.5. Also, I have my ball detection time set at 5 ms.